I write book reviews for all types of books. Mainly, mystery/thriller, Contemporary and Historical fiction, Biography/Memoir and True Crime, and a little Romance, too!

Anatomy of a Scandal

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughn

The Travelling Cat Chronicles

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Sunday, November 10, 2013

TOP DOWN BY JIM LEHRER

Top Down by Jim Lehrer is a Random House publication, released in October 2013.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

On the day Kennedy was assassinated, a fateful decision was made to remove the bubble top from the limo because the skies had cleared. It promised to be a beautiful day in Dallas. The secret service agent that made that decision was Martin Van Walters. When the president as killed, Martin went into a tailspin. He blamed himself for Kennedy's death. If the bubble top had remained on the car, he believed the President would still be alive.
This eats at Martin until he begins to just waste away both mentally and physically. This naturally effects his family. His wife starts drinking and his teenage daughter Marti, is at a loss. She just wants to watch the Dallas Cowboys with her dad like they used to, but those days are gone for good. After years of watching her father decline and now believing he is on the verge of death, Marti is desperate. She contacts a newspaper reporter, Jack, that was on the scene that eventful day in 1963. She wants him to help prove her father is not at fault. The hitch? Jack has to do this off the record. No matter how great this story might be, he will never be able to print it, either in the newspaper, or in a book.
Marti is a smart college student and Jack is taken with her. There is a bit of an age difference between them, but there is still a chemistry going on there.
However, the main goal is to determine whether or not the top being on or off really would have mattered in the long run.

As the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination approaches a slew of books came on the market. This one was mixed in with the non-fiction books and when I first requested it I thought it was also a non-fiction book. However, this is a novel, purely speculative, and more about the toll those events took on the lives of one family and the struggle they went through to move forward with their lives. Jack has a major role in how things turned out for the family in the long run. His feelings for Marti warred with his desire to tell the story of her father. He was torn between what a journalist dreams of doing, and what he promised Marti.
Would Jack do the right thing?

Actually, I thought this was a really sweet story when you get right down to it. The JFK assassination was an interesting backdrop, but this story could have been written about any sort of traumatic event were a person's split second decision came back to haunt them. The effects of traumatic events on normal people just trying to live their lives or do their jobs, can cause PTSD just as easily as someone that has been to war, for example. Martin was evidently a man that felt things very deeply. He also was very lucky to have a daughter that loved him and was dedicated to him.
In the end this is what the story is really all about. People taking drastic steps to save their family, people doing whatever it takes, making whatever sacrifice they have to, to do the right thing and try to keep from making a mistake.
Overall this one gets an A-

Top Down by Jim Lehrer is a Random House publication, released in October 2013.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

On the day Kennedy was assassinated, a fateful decision was made to remove the bubble top from the limo because the skies had cleared. It promised to be a beautiful day in Dallas. The secret service agent that made that decision was Martin Van Walters. When the president as killed, Martin went into a tailspin. He blamed himself for Kennedy's death. If the bubble top had remained on the car, he believed the President would still be alive.
This eats at Martin until he begins to just waste away both mentally and physically. This naturally effects his family. His wife starts drinking and his teenage daughter Marti, is at a loss. She just wants to watch the Dallas Cowboys with her dad like they used to, but those days are gone for good. After years of watching her father decline and now believing he is on the verge of death, Marti is desperate. She contacts a newspaper reporter, Jack, that was on the scene that eventful day in 1963. She wants him to help prove her father is not at fault. The hitch? Jack has to do this off the record. No matter how great this story might be, he will never be able to print it, either in the newspaper, or in a book.
Marti is a smart college student and Jack is taken with her. There is a bit of an age difference between them, but there is still a chemistry going on there.
However, the main goal is to determine whether or not the top being on or off really would have mattered in the long run.

As the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination approaches a slew of books came on the market. This one was mixed in with the non-fiction books and when I first requested it I thought it was also a non-fiction book. However, this is a novel, purely speculative, and more about the toll those events took on the lives of one family and the struggle they went through to move forward with their lives. Jack has a major role in how things turned out for the family in the long run. His feelings for Marti warred with his desire to tell the story of her father. He was torn between what a journalist dreams of doing, and what he promised Marti.
Would Jack do the right thing?

Actually, I thought this was a really sweet story when you get right down to it. The JFK assassination was an interesting backdrop, but this story could have been written about any sort of traumatic event were a person's split second decision came back to haunt them. The effects of traumatic events on normal people just trying to live their lives or do their jobs, can cause PTSD just as easily as someone that has been to war, for example. Martin was evidently a man that felt things very deeply. He also was very lucky to have a daughter that loved him and was dedicated to him.
In the end this is what the story is really all about. People taking drastic steps to save their family, people doing whatever it takes, making whatever sacrifice they have to, to do the right thing and try to keep from making a mistake.
Overall this one gets an A-

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I am married with two grown children, I have two dogs and three cats, I collect vintage paperbacks, I read, and write reviews, blog, promote across social media. I am a top Amazon and Goodreads reviewer.

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